A Journey Inside the Mind of the Architect Who Designed My Penthouse

My penthouse is simply the best money can buy. And yet there are certain features which I have had to adjust to. I am not simply talking about the flatulent ghost. I am talking about the layout and design of the penthouse. In the past weeks I developed an interest in who came up with the plan. So I did some research and found my luxurious home was designed by influential architect Larry Kahn, brother of the better known Louis Kahn. Given their absolute genius I assume I am somehow related to them, but I don't know exactly how.

(Justin's legs reflected in the bathroom mirror as he takes a picture into the kitchen)

In the standard biography Larry Kahn: Man or Myth we read, "Larry constantly tried to erase his personality from his work. One rare exception is that Larry had a reoccuring dream where he prepares a delicious meal only to find that his bathroom has vanished. For this reason Larry frequently put a window between bathroom and kitchen so that he could peer into the bathroom. Sadly, visitors to the homes designed by Kahn often get the impression that their host is a freak."

Well, that explains that.



(Pictured: Though it may not be obvious the board is bevelled. This means that, though for no apparent reason there is a door on the kitchen, it can not be shut more than half way.)

I quote from an interview about Kahn found in The Early Modernist Architecture of Larry Kahn. "Larry, you know, would often guestimate things. A lot of things. Like how much space a door needs beneath it to close. One would think that even someone less than a world famous architect would be able to figure this one out. Someone like, say a fifth grader. Because what is the point of a door that is immobile. That's a wall. Larry's utter love of guestimating earned him the nickname Larry "Submarine Screen Door" Kahn for his completely useless, yet nonetheless cutting edge, doors.

When you put it into historical context I am not so bitter.



"Kahn used to put up satellite dishes, as in plural,just to remind residents about the saturation of media in our lives."
---From A Comparative Study of Marshal Mcluhan and Larry Kahn

Maybe it is silly to speculate about such things, but I wonder what Kahn would have done if he were desigining in the Age of Blogs (which I have decided begins today.)